In the past, Christmas tree lighting assemblies have been known which provide a plurality of discrete dependent strings of series connected lamp elements which extend downwardly from a collar mounted about the top of a Christmas tree. Known systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,951 to Corelli and U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,723 to Learner.
Devices in accordance with these patents suffer a number of disadvantages. In each numerous electrical connections are required between strings of lights connected in parallel. The considerable number of connections provides a centralized location where overheating may arise. In view of this requirement, each of the patents require a substantial and rather unique coupling assembly to accomodate the numerous connections. Such coupling assemblies are expensive and inconvenient to manufacture.